Mikel Arteta reveals shock William Saliba injury boost in five-man Arsenal update

Mikel Arteta also provides the latest on Bukayo Saka, Piero Hincapie, Ben White, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as the Premier League returns

Quick recovery: It’s been less than two weeks since William Saliba limped off early in Arsenal’s defeat by Liverpool

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

William Saliba has returned to training already in a surprise injury boost for Arsenal and could play in Saturday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.

The French defender rolled his ankle during the warm-up ahead of his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Liverpool prior to the international break but still started the game at Anfield, lasting just a few minutes before hobbling off and being replaced by summer signing Cristhian Mosquera.

Saliba subsequently withdrew from the France squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland, with fears that he could miss a key stretch of games for Arsenal heightened after reports from France last weekend that stated he was facing up to a month on the sidelines.

However, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has now revealed that the influential centre-back has resumed training already and could even be in contention to feature in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off against Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium as the Premier League returns.

“William trained today, so we have a decision to make whether we play him or not,” Arteta told reporters on Friday. “It’s very good news.”

Fellow defender Ben White is definitely fit to return this weekend after missing the last two games with an unspecified injury, while Bukayo Saka remains unavailable but is progressing well in his recovery from a latest hamstring issue, according to his manager.

Kai Havertz is stepping up his own recovery from knee surgery, while Arteta has revealed that striker Gabriel Jesus might not return until December or January following a long-term knee injury.

“Yeah, he’s looking really good,” Arteta said on Havertz. “I mean, he’s walking freely. He’s starting to load that knee and starting to do some bits. Obviously, as I said before, I think it will take him from weeks to months

“But knowing Kai, I cannot give you any timescale, because I know what he’s going to try to do, same with Gabi Jesus. So I think he’s in a good moment.

“It was a very tough decision for him to go and have that procedure done. But I think it was necessary and it was the right decision from the medical team to persuade him to do that.”

On Jesus, Arteta said: “Well, he had a major surgery that he was going to take in many, many months so after discussing that with the medical staff and understanding the schedule that we had and when we thought that he could be available, that it would be between December and January, we decided to make that call like we’ve done in the past with other players.

“Hopefully, we get it wrong and he comes back earlier but at the moment the provision was very clear.”

Christian Norgaard has been back in training as he seeks to make his first competitive appearance for Arsenal since a £15million move from Brentford in July, while Deadline Day signing Piero Hincapie has also been working with his new team-mates after returning from international duty with Ecuador.

“He’s ready to go,” Arteta said on Hincapie. “He’s trained two days with us.

“He’s a player that we’ve wanted for years. With the departure of Jakub [Kiwior] as well, we needed another player who can play in that position.”